Hecht Agrees to Three-Year Deal
 

Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier announced today the team has agreed to terms on a three-year deal with restricted free agent forward Jochen Hecht. Hecht would have become an unrestricted free agent after the upcoming season.

The 28-year-old native of Mannheim, Germany, had a career-best season with Buffalo in 2003-2004, scoring 52 points (15+37) in 64 games. During the second half of the season, Hecht scored 37 points (12+25) in 40 games, second only to Daniel Briere's 38. Hecht also posted two four-point games in the second half. He finished the year fifth in team scoring, and led the team with a plus/minus of +17. Hecht also served as an alternate captain during January and February.

Hecht has scored 196 points (73-126) in 333 career NHL games with Buffalo, St. Louis and Edmonton. He scored a career-high 19 goals with St. Louis in 2000-01.

During the 2004-2005 season, Hecht played with Adler Mannheim in the German League, scoring 50 points (16+34) in 36 games. He also represented Germany in the 2005 World Championships, leading the team in scoring with 4 points (3+1) in six games. A veteran of international competition, Hecht was a member of Germany's 1998 and 2002 Olympic teams and 1996 and 2004 Wold Cup teams.